``I said to Barry, `Wouldn't it have been something if we could have been in the same backfield?''' Elway said. ``I think I'd have been willing to give him the ball, and he might have let me have it once in a while, too.''

They had to settle for the next best thing. Elway, the two-time Super Bowl champion quarterback of the Broncos, and Sanders, one of his generation's most prolific halfbacks with the Lions, were among the four voted into the 2004 class of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Both were elected in their first year of eligibility.

``[The voters] saw something that was unique in us,'' Sanders said.

Joining them are Bob Brown, a seven-time All-Pro offensive lineman with the Eagles, Rams and Raiders (1964-73), and Carl Eller, a five-time All-Pro defensive end on the Vikings' ``Purple People Eaters,'' who played 15 of his 16 seasons (1964-79) in Minnesota. They were voted in by a panel of 39 journalists.

``I just wanted to play well and run for a lot of yards,'' Sanders said. ``I didn't think of career goals. I was in the moment. The Hall of Fame seemed so far off. To be singled out for this is actually amazing.''

Elway said his ability to take punishment and keep coming back was a key to his career.

``I was given a football body,'' he said. ``I didn't miss many games. I could take the pounding and the hits and come back. But I believe my strongest asset was that I knew I would continue to work and fight until someone said there was no way to win.''

Elway played in five Super Bowls, winning two (XXXII, XXXIII). He threw for 51,475 yards and 300 touchdowns during his 16-year career.

``What I'm most proud of was being able to hang in there long enough to win the Super Bowls,'' he said.

Patriots coach Bill Belichick split two major battles with Elway. He was defensive coordinator of the Giants team that beat the Broncos in Super Bowl XXI, but the assistant coach of the Jets team Elway beat in the 1998 AFC Championship Game.

``He was truly a dynamic threat,'' Belichick said. ``Every time the ball was in his hands he could turn broken plays into big ones. He saw things quickly and was decisive, a player with a tremendous sense and feel for the game. Certainly, he was one of the toughest quarterbacks I ever had to coach against.''

Sanders never played in a Super Bowl, but rushed for more than 1,100 yards in each of his 10 seasons, including 2,053 in 1997. His career total (15,269) was 1,457 yards from Walter Payton's record when Sanders suddenly retired before the 1999 season. Emmitt Smith eventually passed them both in 2002.

``Being so close to Walter Payton's record was certainly something I was conscious of,'' Sanders said. ``But to have been behind him was still an honor, as well. I felt I'd accomplished many wonderful things and that's what I focused on.''